Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

Republican Rock Sucks

In the last couple days of the presidential campaign, the difference between the two parties when it comes to music were crystal clear. President Obama had Bruce Springsteen traveling with him, while Mitt Romney had to settle for the Marshall Tucker Band — which cleverly changed the lyrics to its one hit song to “Can’t You See, What Obama Been Doin’ To Me?” I guess Ambrosia and the Starlight Vocal Band were busy.
But that’s just the start. I’m sure you’ve seen the painful rendition of America the Beautiful that Meatloaf performed next to Romney a week before the election. But in case you haven’t:

Holy shit. Give me a ‘B’ — I’ll flatten it myself. Then there was Kid Rock, who seems to always want to remind people what his name is by saying it 147 times in every song. And to top it all off, Jack Blades, the bass player and sometimes lead singer of Night Ranger, actually performed at the Republican National Convention.

Comments

I’m not a Marshall Tucker fan, owning none of their albums and having seen them once only merely because they served as a warm-up band; but Can’t You See is one of my favorite all-time songs. It’s #4 on my iTunes most played list. So this really sucks.

I have a friend who is a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan (not sure why). I told him that I turn off the radio when I hear him, Nugent, Alice Cooper or any of the other Rockin’ Reptilicans bein’ cued up on the turntable.

He said (this was back in early July, IIRC) that I should not worry about their politics as they weren’t REALLY pro-GOP.

I haven’t seen him since but next time I do I’ll need to show him this–http://blog.gactv.com/blog/2012/08/23/oak-ridge-boys-lynyrd-skynyrd-lee-greenwood-to-perform-at-republican-national-convention/

Why couldn’t all of these people been on that helicopter, ‘stead of Stevie Ray Vaughn?

If Meatloaf had performed “Hot Patootie” instead, it might have swung my vote. Also: If you’re listening Satan, I’ll give you a majority share of my soul to watch Mitt attend a showing of RHPS and get de-virginized.

D. C. Sessions“Part of the problem is that protest songs work a lot better when you’re protesting being at the bottom of the heap rather than having your privilege threatened.”
Ah, rightwing protest songs… Pull up the Ladder. Why the Poors Always Gotta be Agitatin’? Oops (I Stepped in Hippie).

jason the cripple“You forgot about Scott Stapp, the lead singer of one of the worst bands of all time: Creed. He went on Fox News and endorsed Romney.”
“I thought everything would change/I’m disappointed in Obama” is not a Romney endorsement. (2m45s up)

Just wait fifteen years and you’ll see a decrepit, brain-dead Dave Mustaine shilling for the GOP. To be fair, at least the music itself would be light-years ahead of Marshall Tucker.

On the other side, you’ll probably see the Democrats trying to pick up now-ancient 90s pop-punk bands. The issue with Democrats trying to get any left-wing bands is they would get a response similar to Sex Pistols and the RnR Hall of Fame.

If the Democrats want an endorsement from a ‘hasbeen’ 90’s band I’m sure the brothers Gallagher* would be happy to take their money.
They did it for Tony.
Dingo
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* assuming they aren’t trying to kill each other that is

Jesus, are you still upset that you’re so fucking stupid? What’s it been, about a year since you proved what an asswipe moron you are–and it still smarts, apparently.

“In defense of Alice Cooper… oh, fuck it, I got nothin’, I just like his music.”

We are all entitled to like what we like, I lean towards some odd bands, 10cc, Horselips, Groundhogs, John Entwhistle’s “Ox” among others. They had talent out the wazoo.

Alice Cooper is a fucking hasbeen who’s a friend of Shurf Joe Apiehole and pretty much a ReiKKKwing KKKristianist asshole.

His music is probably not really “his”, anyway. If he’s like a lot of other rockers he owes his success to a legion of sidemen, engineers and others who made HIM sound good. His silly horror shtick is pure camp. I’m sorta surprised that he never teamed up with Bette Midler and Barry Manilow on the Bathhouse Circuit.

Yes, that’s the point. Try to listen to Black Widow without smiling*.
Dingo
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* Especially when you know how fearsome Latrodectus is in reality. When threatened L. hasseltii will curl up into ball and pretend to be dead (don’t try this with Atrax robustus ;)

What’s interesting to me is why conservative art is almost always far inferior to secular art (even my rock-loving Christian friends hate Christian rock), whether it is music, movies, or comedy (remember the right’s attempt at a SNL ripoff?). Why isn’t there a right-wing version of Colbert? Or Roy Zimmerman? Could it be that there is a fundamental flaw in the way rightwingers view the world? Does adherance to custom and tradition choke out the creative impulse? Does it have anything to do with the apparent lack of empathy in rightwingers? It’s been true for so long we just accept it without question, but it seems a question worth asking.

I believe the RNC had Journey as well, but of course it was Journey without Steve Perry

Well, they can’t get everything wrong. If there is a Hell, Steve Perry is wailing out of the sound system, right between Lionel Ritchie and Sammy Hagar.

Theron Corse“@scienceavenger Because they are authoritarians, and authoritarianism and creativity don’t mix well.”
Rock is rebellion*. Rebelling against those below you isn’t rebelling, it’s privilege. And you can’t be a rebel if you can’t rebel against those above you.